David Hillman

Last night saw the third in the President’s lecture 2009 series at D&AD, and this time it was the turn of David Hillman to reflect on his life in editorial design. In a remarkable career that has spanned 50 years, he has worked for The Sunday Times, art directed at Nova, became a partner at Pentagram, and rebranded the Guardian, as well as starting his own studio. In conversation with Patrick Baglee of Navyblue, he covered everything from his early days at the London School of Printing, to his feelings about how publishing must tackle the new challenges posed by the web.

Read on for some memorable quotes from the evening…

On starting out:
“My father was always disappointed I never got a real job. When I was tracing type he thought I was cheating, that I should do it freehand!”

On his early influences:
Brodovich of harpers Bazaar – “the godfather of graphic design”

Henry Wolf of Esquire – “my greatest hero”

On his first job at London Life:
“I was 19 or 20 years old and I was offered the art editorship of the magazine. It was a fantasy job, a great team, working on an entertainment mag for London – though none of us knew what we were doing!”

On Nova, which he joined as Art Director in 1968:

“We tackled every taboo known to man until there were none left. This is true of design – once someone has done it, everyone does it.”

A Hillman cover for Nova women's magazine

On commissioning photographers:
“I was approached by so many photographers… so I let it be known that from 10.30 til 12.00 every day I would view portfolios, and not a minute after. It was not just about liking the work – I had to like the person too.”

On the relaunch of Nova:
“It’s a crappy idea – why couldn’t they think of a new name for the magazine? You should never resurrect a magazine, and the quality of photography left a lot to be desired.”

On working at Pentagram:
“It was an amazing opportunity. I could live off their experience and blag my way to win a corporate identity!”

Phaidon: a Pentagram project

On rebranding the Guardian:
“The brief was on an A5 piece of paper saying basically I could do what I wanted! But in the end it was done through a lot of discussions.”

On responses to his rebranding of the Guardian:
“Spike Milligan wrote in, ‘Dear Editor, I think you have had one meeting too many!’”

‘Another anonymous letter said, ‘Dear Editor, Got the comic – where’s the newspaper?’”

“And Max Hastings said to me in person, ‘How do you feel to be responsible for the death of a newspaper?’”

The Guardian: as rebranded by Hillman

On the role of online publishing:
“The web will not be the death of magazines. It’s great for  ’skimming’, but not when you want a long read.”

“There is still a desire amongst readers for newspapers.”

“It’s not the web that’s doing it – it’s the people who are publishing, giving away content for free.”

On his influences today:
“NB Studios, Simon Esterson (the first art director of Blueprint) and a whole new generation of really good designers – although I don’t know all their names.”

On setting up a studio:
“Keep it small. Try and do it from home for as long as you can. You are most profitable when you are working on the kitchen table.”

On making a successful magazine:
“Everybody’s voice has to be heard. A good magazine is a strong group of people – take one away and the whole thing falls apart.”

“Design is a team effort.”